Pokemon Re:evolution
by yarnej
Summary: In a world where Pokemon have become the weapons of the government and the ones that aren't are the toys of the rich, a young boy works his way toward his own Pokemon.
1. Chapter 1

Everyone has always dreamed of having a Pokemon of their own since the moment we all become fascinated by them. But having our own Pokemon is just merely a dream. There are only two ways to get our own Pokemon: money and luck; lots and lots of money and luck that almost becomes a miracle. Pokemon are as scarce as diamonds and have become monopolized by the government to become the fighting force of their army.

I too have dreamed to one day have a Pokemon to call my own. Since there are only two ways to acquire a Pokemon, I can only hope to buy one. Luck has never been on my side; almost everything I've played with has found a way to break itself, and everything I've tried to fix has found a way to become irreparable. Thus, I am in the process of amassing a fortune.

Today marks the first day after the school year has ended and the beginning of my business, Jet Delivery Service, named after myself of course. Most delivery services use cars, motorcycles, or bikes, but I use custom rollerblades fitted with a small engine with enough speed to match cars on the street.

This is Ironborough, a small town once known for its iron production during its first decade or so after its founding, but now it's just a rundown town that barely stays afloat through its numerous abandoned factories and buildings up for rent.

"Here you go Ms. Bell, just sign here and it's all yours," I said as I delivered my last package of the day.

"Thanks, Jet! You're always so fast. I think today was your fastest time yet!"

"No problem. Call anytime and I'll be right over!"

Now that today's over, let's count today's earnings and head over to the Poke Auction. Most town have a Poke Auction, and they not only auction Pokemon but also sell Pokeballs and other Pokemon-related equipment. Let's see… ¥4,000 today, not bad. I get ¥3,000 food money per day. I've been saving for 3 years and have accumulated ¥500,000, but I'm still a long way off from the cheapest Pokemon available.

There's the Poke Auction: a warehouse that takes up an entire small city block with a small branching office.

"Hey, Mr. Grissle, what's up for sale today?" I greeted a burly, middle-aged man with short brown hair and aged clothes.

"Hey, Jet. Business is lookin' good today, huh. Here ya go," he said as he handed me a slightly wrinkled sheet of paper.

Pokemon *¥

Magikarp 1,250,000

Meowth 1,350,000

Wurmple 1,350,000

Pidgey 1,500,000

Geodude 1,700,000

Electrike 1,800,000

Rhyhorn 2,500,000

Klang 3,200,000

Weezing 4,000,000

Stantler 5,000,000

Gyarados 6,000,000

*¥100=$1.00

Pokemon are priced based on their evolution stage, rarity, usefulness, and condition. Higher stage Pokemon are worth much more than first stage, but they're much harder to control. Rarity refers to how scarce a Pokemon is; though almost all are rare, some are still much more common than others, and unique characteristics can also raise their value. Usefulness is a large percentage of a Pokemon's value; for example, a Pidgey can be a scout and a delivery bird and put me out of business. Condition refers to the state the Pokemon is in and how fit it is. Most Pokemon for sale aren't in very good condition due to the difficulty of restraining them, whereas some Pokemon newly on the market can be in top condition and sell for top money.

"Nothing that rare today, huh."

"Yeah, we don't usually get any rare Pokemon passed around here. Ironborough is a small town ya know, so mostly only common and a few uncommon Pokes pass through."

"That makes sense." I nodded.

"What kinda Pokemon are ya lookin' for anyway?"

"Nothing in particular; one that I can bring around and let the kids at the orphanage play with. The Electrike on the list is certainly a good choice, but I'm a long way off with only ¥500,000," I sighed.

"Hahaha! You'll get there one day! I was a Pokemon trainer once too, ya know. It wasn't easy and it wasn't cheap."

"Whoa, a Pokemon trainer! I never knew you had that side to you. You must be getting old. Since you were a trainer, you used Pokeballs right? How much were those?"

"Hahaha. I'm not that old, Jet! I just turned thirty-I'm not that old! As for Pokeballs, they're quite rare ya know. You can only buy them at the Poke Auction Headquarters. They start at around ¥2,000,000."

My jaw dropped and a dejected shadow fell across my face.

"No worries, Jet, most trainers are in their 20's, so you have plenty of time," he said, trying to comfort me.

I sulked on my way out of the shop and dragged myself home. It was already 7:30 PM when I arrived home, and the sun had barely started to set. I devoured a berry sandwich for dinner, took a shower, and laid in bed to listen to Professor Oak's Pokemon Talk on the radio.

"… Machoke! It's the evolved form for Machop and is a pure fighting type! Machokes have muscles as tough as steel and can even overturn a truck! They're very useful for construction and heavy lifting."

"Wow, that's amazing, Professor Oak! I see them quite often at construction companies and in front of buildings too."

"That's right, Mary, Machokes also make for very capable security guards. Did you know Machokes can evolve even further…" and I drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

*Beep beep, beep beep*

*Yawn* Ah, its morning. Let's see what's on today's delivery list. 5 deliveries to be made around the business district in the morning and 4 in the residential district in the afternoon. First comes breakfast: berry jam on toast and a cup of berry juice. This is the diet of the poor and scavengers, me basically. Now it's time to get to work.

*3 hours later*

Phew, finished a little early. I'll head to the orphanage and play with the kids during lunch. This orphanage consists mostly of kids who have lost their parents or families from the wars between countries. Most recently, this country has lost a skirmish with a neighboring country, and war-torn civilians are rushing in beyond the capacity of shelters and orphanages. Here, children ages 3-12 are gathered. Ironborough is fairly far from other towns and had only a few children, but now children are pouring in because of the apparent abundance of space. Or so there was because now children are being crammed in, and Ironborough's original capacity has been exceeded many times.

"Jet, Jet! You came! I missed you!" A little girl no older than 5 screamed ecstatically as she ran up for a hug.

"Hi there, Susie," I said as I ruffled her hair.

"Did you come here to play?" she asked with a smile that wouldn't take no for answer.

"Of course I did. What would you like to do?"

"Can you take me on a race around town?"

"Sure. Would you like to come too, Ellie?" I asked to the little girl hiding meekly behind Susie.

"Yes… Please…" She whispered.

"Alright! Let's go!" I said as I lifted the two little girls onto my shoulder and dashed out the door.

Many months ago, I came across this orphanage when I was making a delivery here. Immediately, the kids took a liking to me and I began to frequently visit. We share the dream to have Pokemon of our own, and while I'm halfway there, they're nowhere close. To them, I'm somewhat of a hero who will one day bring them a Pokemon to play with, and maybe even bring them each one also. Aside from that, I play with the younger kids and tutor the slightly older ones as well.

And now it's 1 PM. Playtime's over and it's time to get back to work.

* * *

*3 hours later*

Last package has been delivered and I'm done for the day. Now I'm at the edge of town and I suppose it's a good time for a break. I'll take a nap under the shade of this bright green tree.

Hm? What's that sound? Oh, there's a shadow and it's getting closer. Maybe I should mo-

*Crash*

*Minutes later*

"Tooor!"

Ugh. My head. What's that screaming sound. What's this stabbing pain on face? Am I dying?

"Toor!" an angry scream erupted in my face.

I opened my eyes and I found an orange… thing angrily jumping up and down on my chest. It must be a bird since it has a beak and its legs are just like birds' also. But why doesn't it have wings? Now I know where the stabbing feeling on my face came from.

"Ow ow ow! Stop stabbing my face!" I shouted as I picked it up with both hands.

It certainly is a wingless bird; orange from head to toe, a few light spiky feathers on its head, and a head larger than its body. It must have some amazing balance. It's still glaring at me with a scowl. _What did I ever do to offend this poor flightless bird? _ I thought with a frown.

"So, uh… Hey, there."

"Tor!"

I put it down and crossed my legs. Now we began our staring contest. It's wearing a string pendant around its neck with a big marble that has a red and brown swirl in the middle. I reached out to touch it and…

"Tor!" And it pecked at my hand.

I guess that's yours and that means no touching… The little bird then hopped over a few steps and picked up a black circular object with something shiny attached to it and… is that a Pokeball?! The black object was thrown at my face, and I could only let my jaw drop in response.

The flightless bird hopped onto my hand and started pecking at my wrist. This seemed to mean my hand will be its dinner, or I should put on the circular object that must be a bracelet meant to be worn by me. I put it on and it responded with a strong nod.

*Grumble*

"You must be hungry, where's your trainer?" I asked.

It tilted its head and continued to gaze at me.

"Does that mean you're a wild Pokemon? But then why do you have a Pokeball?"

The staring contest continued.

*Grumble*

"Ugh. It's been a while since I've eaten, and you must be hungrier than me." I said as I picked up its Pokeball.

"Return.. What's your name again?" I mumbled.

It continued to tilt its head and spat out a "Torchic!"

"Alrighty then. Return, Torchic!" I shouted and pointed the Pokeball to it.

Torchic turned its head away in refusal.

….

"…. Fine, I'll carry you. Hop on." I sighed and offered my hand. Torchic promptly hopped on and I put it on my shoulder as I dashed home at full speed.

* * *

The sun had just set, and we've arrived home. I quickly put Torchic on the only one of two tables in my house, or rather box… I set out a plate of a few berries. Torchic cautiously sniffed the berries and *Grumble* decided to take a bite regardless of the dangers. I proceeded to make my own berry sandwich since Torchic is willing to eat its own berries. I turn around with my complete sandwich so I could eat with Torchic, only to find a bloated flightless bird passed out on my table and not a single berry left. I stared in awe as I imagined a disproportioned flightless bird eating enough berries to exceed half its body mass.

I turned on the radio and tuned in to Professor Oak's Pokemon Talk show.

"…and that's all folks! Tune in tomorrow for Buena's password and we'll discuss the spider Pokemon, Spinarak!"

"Oh! Profess Oak, there's actually still some time left. How about we let some listeners call in and ask some Pokemon questions?"

"That's a great idea, Mary! Let's wait a minute and give everyone a chance to think of a question and call in."

Come to think of it, I've never seen or even heard of a Torchic before. It's not in any of the Pokemon picture books either. This is a great opportunity to find out something good!

*Ring ring ring…*

"Hello, this is Professor Oak, and you're live on my talk show!"

"Hello, Professor Oak! I'm a big fan of yours and I listen to your show every night!"

"Oh shucks, you make me blush. What question might you have for me today, young Pokefan?"

"You see, I came across this Pokemon, and I know nothing about it! It calls itself Torchic. Do you know anything about it, Professor?"

After a moment of silence. "A Torchic, you say? That's a rare name. I'm sorry, young Pokefan, but I haven't researched such a Pokemon, nor has it appeared in my research."

"Wow! Something even Professor Oak doesn't know! You must be quite the Pokefan to stump the great Professor Oak!"

*Beep* I hung up the phone.

It seems not even Professor Oak knows anything about Torchic. Then it seems it'll be up to me to learn firsthand about what a Torchic can do.

Time to sleep… Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..


End file.
